Study: Prostate cancer care varies by hospital

January 25, 2010 2:24:25 PM PST

January 25, 2010 --

Prostate cancer care may depend on where a man gets his treatment. A new study n the journal Cancer finds surgery was more common among patients treated in county hospitals, while patients in private facilities were more likely to undergo radiation or hormone therapy.

The study found patients in private facilities were nearly 2.5 times more likely than those in county hospitals to receive radiation and more than 4.5 times more likely to initially receive hormone therapy instead of surgery.

The type of doctor handling a patient's case may be one reason cited. County hospitals had urologists while private facilities had a mix of urologists, radiation oncologists and medical oncologists.